Kimi Provides Service With a Smile
“Smile more, it’s the quickest way to make you look younger!” Two-time CAREGiver of the Month Kimi Graham loves those words.
If you paired Kimi’s adopted phrase with the Home Instead® guiding principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart,” you’d come close to summarizing Kimi’s life. Engagement Coordinator Darla Corah pointed out Kimi cheerfully serves others, a major reason why she was honored as the Home Instead franchise’s CAREGiver of the Month for the second time since September 2018.
Referring to her January 2021 CAREGiver award at Home Instead of Iredell and Alexander Counties in Statesville, Kimi said: “I was very pleased on being told the news. Fittingly, I was with a client at the time when the call came through on the GrandPad. So, there was someone dear to my heart with whom to share the news. My client congratulated me. I am honored Home Instead’s staff felt I was worthy of a second nomination!”
Trying to surmise how she was selected for her second honor, Kimi explained: “Well, I’m not really sure how it all came about. All I know is I always put myself in my clients’ place and know it must be difficult for them to have to rely on someone else for their personal needs, As a result, I go the extra steps to do little things to make them feel better. One of those extra steps is giving back massages after baths with some lotion. Maybe I’ll cook something special for the client. I sure would want someone doing that for me if the roles were reversed.”
One client and Kimi will share their one-year service anniversary in April. She helps him twice a week. Kimi said: “He’s a paraplegic and needs help from his bed to his wheelchair. It’s gotten to the point where if he provides just a slight hint, I know exactly what he needs. After I take care of all of his needs, we go outside to feed the cats and kittens, and we enjoy our time outside.”
Life doesn’t ever reach a standstill with Kimi. About a year and a half after she had won her previous CAREGiver award, Kimi earned her CNA certification in March 2020 by passing the state board exam. “I’m very proud of that achievement. I plan on continuing my time with Home Instead in the same capacity,” said Kimi, who began facing the pandemic about the same time she had become a CNA. “On the COVID-19 front, none of my clients nor I or my family have had issues ... knock on wood.”
The resident of Harmony, North Carolina, joined Home Instead in November 2016. Before Kimi went to work for the award-winning franchise owned by Tracey and Creighton Gibson, she had enjoyed volunteering for Meals on Wheels and was serving seniors with fellow church members on Tuesdays and Fridays. “I felt a connection to the seniors,” Kimi explained. As the experience unfolded, Kimi decided to seek a job helping seniors. She previously had held office jobs.
“I felt it was time to go back to work. I saw an advertisement for Home Instead somewhere, maybe on a bulletin board, so I looked online,” Kimi said. “I have always had compassion and empathy for babies, older people and animals – those who are most vulnerable. Of course, I am a family caregiver because I have a son, daughter and husband. But I felt I’d always been a natural caregiver. To be one, I believe you must have patience, compassion and empathy. You try to instill that in your children.”
Kimi tries to surprise her clients by doing the little extra things clients wouldn’t expect. “For instance, during my shifts with clients, I have made Jell-O with fruit, or muffins, for them in their kitchens. I find that little things add up, and the clients do appreciate those little things,” Kimi said. “We all want to please others. I try to make their lives as easy and comfortable as possible, and it makes me feel good if my clients are happy.”
Kimi is always ready to meet her clients’ needs because her empathy runs at a high level. She said: “I’ll be where they are one day, God willing. To serve others is the best way to get yourself out of your own small world. Don’t be the center of your own universe. Give of yourself.”
And, Kimi said, don’t forget to smile more.
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (704) 924-9909 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
